1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to systems and methods for monitoring health care workers to promote compliance with required hygienic practices and protect patients who may be contacted by such workers or other persons.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
The Center for Disease Control, health care facilities and other institutions have recognized the need for promoting personal hygiene among workers. One of the most common practices by such institutions is to post signs in hallways and restrooms reminding workers that their hands must be washed. More sophisticated systems have been developed for monitoring the actions of workers. One such system includes badges worn by workers that are capable of transmitting or receiving information. As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,317, workers are provided with badges that detect entry into an area that may be unsanitary and alert the workers to this fact. If a worker subsequently washes his hands or activates a disposable glove dispenser following such exposure, the alerting function of the badge is deactivated. If appropriate action is not taken by a worker, a violation is recorded by the badge or a system controller.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,882,278 describes another system that monitors compliance with recommended hand-washing practices. The system includes a hand-washing detector and an event detector such as a motion detector that detects an event such a person entering or leaving a room. A control unit determines whether a person has washed his hands within a predetermined time period before entering the room.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,727,818 and 6,975,231 disclose other systems for promoting hygienic practices. The first mentioned patent discloses a system that tracks the movements of health care workers throughout the facility and within a patient's room. The health care workers are provided with badges that transmit ID information to sensors located in the hallways and rooms of the facility, which in turn transmit location information to a master station. ID information is also transmitted to wash sink sensors to indicate whether the health care worker has washed his hands. If the health care worker enters a patient contact zone in the patient's room without having complied with the required hand washing procedure, an alert is provided by the health care worker's badge and/or other alerting devices located on the patient's bed or in the patient's room. A time delay may be employed before a warning alert is provided so that an alert is not triggered by a health care worker who is only briefly in the patient contact zone. U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,231 discloses a system employing sets of detectors located just outside and within a patient's room. These detectors are actuated sequentially as a person enters the room and the time between their actuation is monitored in determining whether a person has entered the room. A determination is made as to whether the person has washed his hands within a predetermined period of time, and a warning signal is generated if the hands have not been washed within the set period.
The benefits of signs reminding people to sanitize their hands are believed to be limited in effectiveness. Interactive systems that notify a person that he has not performed a required procedure are likely to result in better compliance, particularly if coupled with a system that makes a record of violations. It is important, however, to avoid “false alarms” that would cause a person to be notified of a compliance issue unnecessarily or record a violation where no issue of potential contamination is present. For example, a number of persons entering a hospital room do so for purposes other than treating a patient, and accordingly will not contact or even closely approach a patient. A system that signals hygienic warnings for such persons may tend to be ignored over time as too many warnings are issued during the course of a day. As patients are often capable of moving from their beds and in and out of their rooms, warnings due to such movements should either not be displayed or reflect the fact that they are patient-initiated. To the greatest possible extent, a system should display warnings only with respect to persons who actually come in close proximity or contact with a patient and have not complied with required hygienic practices before doing so. It is also important to detect unauthorized persons who may approach or come into contact with a patient regardless of whether they are wearing a badge or other type of transmitting/receiving apparatus.